Bad credit repair warning shows how debt collectors cleverly “use” the police to convince you pay an alleged debt.
In 2010, DEBTOR’S PRISONS are forcing “criminals” to pay alleged debts, exactly as debt collectors have schemed.
Today, clever debt collectors are using the courts, police & news media to FORCE you to pay alleged debts.
Debtor’s Prisons?
YES, debtor’s prisons!
I’m dead serious.
Yesterday, I didn’t believe in “debtor’s prisons.” Today, I have enough evidence to warn you and to offer urgent suggestions.
The other day, I received what I first regarded as an overly dramatic email from a lady named Rosemary H. of Minneapolis, Minnesota.
Rosemary’s email was short and clear: “My friend was arrested in front of her kids, handcuffed & thrown into the back of a police cruiser. They would not tell her why she was arrested. Her oldest was forced to call a neighbor to watch the kids.”
Whoa, I thought while reading this email. There MUST be a helluva lot more to this “story.”
This is America 2010 – 21st Century. People are not hauled off to jail for alleged unpaid debts.
As I wrote back to her requesting details, I envisioned Charles Dickens and 19th Century Victorian Era – when debtors were jailed like common criminals!
Rosemary wrote back, providing more details and including a couple urls to news articles published in the Minneapolis -St. Paul Star Tribune newspaper.
Click Read More below now for the shocking reality showing HOW debt collectors are using the courts…the police…and the news media to SCARE YOU into paying off alleged debt.
DEBT COLLECTORS GET (MORE) GREEDY….
Make no mistake, debt collectors don’t give a damn how you pay or even if the debt is yours.
They want your money and they’re cleverly using the courts, police & news media to help them collect on alleged, unpaid debts.
If you innocently find yourself in their crosshairs, you are about to face the ugly side of the law, treated as a dangerous criminal and perhaps handcuffed and jailed.
In Jail For Being In Debt….
The sub-head pulled me closer to my computer screen. There at the top of the page, I read, “You committed no crime, but an officer is knocking on your door. More Minnesotans are surprised to find themselves being locked up over debts.”
The news article Rosemary sent me jumped into what had happened to 57-year-old Joy Uhlmeyer, a Minneapolis patient care advocate who was pulled over (the news story says) while returning home from visiting her 86 year-old mother
Clearly, this Star Tribune news story give credence to the notion of COURTS and POLICE doing debt collectors’ bidding – giving credence to the notion of resurrected debtor’s prisons.
Here’s how the NEWS MEDIA is complicit in this notion of debtor’s prisons – and you need to listen carefully:
- Star Tribune FAILS to give us the “rest of the story.” And this part is absolutely critical. Joy and others whose harrowing experiences jump off the page at us in this news article were served legal paperwork to appear in Court. For whatever reason, they did NOT respond to the Summons and an arrest warrant was issued.
This is why they were arrested.
This is how the courts and police are used as unconventional “tools” of debt collectors.
This is what the news media does to sensationalize a story and scare you even more, perhaps unintentionally becoming the de facto mouthpiece of ALL debt collectors who want you to think that you WILL be ripped away from the dinner table with your family and kids staring in horror, as you’re handcuffed and thrown in to a police car.
This scares the hell out of me just thinking about my kids’ terrified eyes.
Shame on the Minneapolis-St. Paul Star Tribune for not clarifying WHY these people had been arrested.
- You will not be arrested for unpaid debts UNLESS you fail to respond to a Court Summons. Even then, it’s not guaranteed you’ll be arrested. Another point in the article is that NOT all police departments have resources to pursue CIVIL issues.
YES, it’s true that process servers don’t always deliver legal paperwork (that is, Court Summons) to the right address or right person…and don’t care either.
Did all people featured in this news story NOT receive the Summons?
Did all people in this news story IGNORE the Summons?
Did all or one of the people featured in this news story owe the alleged debt?
- You absolutely MUST know what is on your credit reports…at all times. At minimum, you must pull a 100% FREE copy YEARLY of each report from 3 credit reporting agencies: Equifax, Experian & Transunion. Any inaccurate or unverifiable information must be disputed off your reports. Don’t expect an easy time disputing inaccurate or unverifiable credit information off your credit file. The BIG 3 do NOT want to remove harmful bad credit information. I get in to WHY (big 3 will fight you) and HOW (you can overcome the BIG 3′s brush off letters) on my DVD, 8 SECRETS TO A 680 CREDIT SCORE!
You’d better believe debt collection is a hugely profitable business.
And many LAWYERS are buying charged-off “junk” debt for pennies on the dollar and using boiler rooms to force payment. From the Star Tribune’s news article comes another reality:
“The debts — often five or six years old — are purchased from companies like cellphone providers and credit card issuers, and cost a few cents on the dollar. Using automated dialing equipment and teams of lawyers, the debt-buyer firms try to collect the debt, plus interest and fees. A firm aims to collect at least twice what it paid for the debt to cover costs.” (source:
Ask Deborah Poplawski (38), who was arrested while parking her car as she ended up paying $1,138 on a $250 alleged credit card debt.
Yikes!
What’s worth, getting arrested & booked into jail or forced to pay $1,138 on a $250 ALLEGED debt?
Please scroll down this page a bit & share your experiences, thoughts, questions and comments about this article. To read more of this Star Tribune newspaper article, click debt collectors gone wild.
Bad Credit Repair demands you know what’s on your credit reports (accurate and inaccurate). What you don’t know or want to know can and (might) be used against you in front of your children as you sit down to dinner. If you are ordered to court, PLEASE do not ignore the Court Order. PLEASE meet with an attorney who specializes in FDCPA (that is, Federal Debt Collections Practices Act). Do not try to represent yourself. The alleged debt might not be yours. The alleged debt might be time barred…or re-aged to look current. The amount might be inflated, even if it’s accurate. It is not the Court’s responsibility to defend you against the big, bad debt collector. This might be the most serious warning I’ve issued.
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